BASH: I remember a time when Republicans were very careful about the government having access to personal data
NOEM: Well, we can’t trust the government anymore
BASH: You are the government
Many of the so-called "Christians" who support Trump's reign of greed and scapegoating follow the "prosperity gospel." This article by Tara Isabella Burton explains how aspects of three different movements combined to create what is known today as the "prosperity gospel." The three include:
- The 19th century New Thought movement, which claimed that if one set one's mind to something, they could manifest it in real life. This aligned with "the quintessentially American idea that the individual was responsible for his or her own happiness, health, and situation in life."
- The Calvinist idea of believing that prosperity was a sign from God that one was predestined to be saved, and hard work was a sign of one's virtue, which led to "the valorization of the 'Protestant work ethic.'" According to Burton, this "specifically Protestant approach to labor [was] integral to the development of capitalism and industrialization."
- The rise of decentralized "charismatic Pentecostal churches," in the U.S. According to Burton, these Pentecostals held "the idea that God would manifest Himself to the faithful in concrete, miraculous ways in the 'here and now'" through “'spiritual gifts' (or 'charisms,' from which the term 'charismatic' is drawn)." This in turn, combined with the "decentralized" structure of the congregations, led to the peculiar, almost fan-like devotion of congregants to their charismatic Pentecostal leaders, who often engaged in showy displays of their "spiritual gifts."
[See more under the cut.]